Centered on Esther, age 35, black seamstress creating for both white, married woman and black prostitute the titled garments in Intimate Apparel, Lynn Nottage’s play at Asolo Rep comes in the shape of an acted-out narrative book. Its scenic titles have mostly cloth and garment names yet what goes on beneath them is both very emotional and lyrical. The setting is Lower Manhattan in 1905 but with glimpses of faraway Panama as its Canal was built.
Esther (worthy of her star portrayal by Aneisa J. Hicks) lives and works in a boarding house run by Mrs. Dickson (a nice, no-nonsense Regina Marie Williams). All of her previous young boarders married, but Esther never found the mate she’s dreamt will help her run a garment shop for blacks as good as any now restricted to whites. Esther’s buried her considerable savings in her mattress for this purpose.
While Esther dreams of making a good marriage, her wealthy white customer Mrs. Van Buren has a husband who’s neglected her and even taken drugs. (Adelin Phelps substantiates well Mrs. V.B.’s upsetting views of married life.) Prostitute Mayme, who’d counted on being a professional pianist but was deterred by her father from trying, is nevertheless lovable outside of her sexual profession. (Trezure B. Coles couldn’t be better at showing this.)
Jewish cloth merchant Mr. Marks (flawlessly rendered by Sasha Andreev) is undoubtedly a right man for Esther—and himself — but the times are not right for couples who are not racially and/or religiously aligned. A tea Mr. Marks hosts for Esther is one of the loveliest chapters in Lynn Nottage’s book/play, otherwise full of discordant ones.
What falls to Esther is a chance to exchange letters with George, a worker on the Panama Canal. She takes it up, but with the help of her landlady and clients, because she can’t actually read and write. They’re pen pals until he arrives for the marriage they’ve arranged by mail. It is soon clear that both Esther and George have engaged in major deceptions. What the future for both will hold is revealed at the climax.
If there is any problem with Nottage’s poignant play, it’s the needless repetition. At Asolo Rep, it also fails to establish the New York time and place as important as it is to major technical points. Costuming, hair, and props (especially bedding), as well as swift transitions between the abodes of Esther and of Mayme and to George in Panama, are excellent.
Director Austene Van has elicited perfect performances from her cast. She handles the sensual elements with taste and yet underlines their importance. Nottage could not ask for more.
